At a high level, Age of Ultron is not as good as The Avengers. Capturing that huge event feel was always going to be difficult a second time. It’s a reasonable MCU entry, and I enjoy watching it. But it could have been more.
I might shudder when I think of Joss Whedon now – with his poorly judged reshooting of Justice League the tip of the iceberg – but he’s much better suited to Marvel, where his humorous character moments fit the overall template.
Ultron makes for a vivid villain, mechanically maniacal yet full of human quirks thanks to Spader’s marvellous performance. It is frustrating that Marvel continue with their ‘one and done’ approach to villains. Surely they could have left a trace of him on the internet somewhere! Seems a shame to not make even more use of an antagonist who could have rivalled Loki.
The Hulkbuster fight is a fantastic set piece, which seems to avoid the rather jarring CGI deployed at each end of the film. Very odd that at this point Marvel would let something like that happen. Hawkeye received recompense for this treatment in Assemble whilst the Maximoffs get time to shine. I understand the Romanoff/Banner relationship – he’s not her usual guy and all that – but the arc appears from nowhere. It’s dropped in and feels like we’re just expected to deal with it. For such a thought out and connected set of stories this seems like a misstep.
I’m not on a big downer about this film. It’s an entertaining blockbuster with plenty going for it. But the game has moved on, for both Marvel and comic book films in general.
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